Gallet, Dreyer & Berkey, LLP
As the year draws to a close, we offer valuable planning tips to our clients, colleagues, and friends of the firm regarding their assets, tax, and estate concerns.
Foremost, there are still some time-sensitive ways to save taxes that could result in much more money for your family.
Written by Josephine Nesbit, U.S. News. Featuring Asher Rubinstein, Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP.
The IRS has specific rules regarding how homebuyers qualify for certain tax credits. There are also credits that are only available to first-time buyers.
Through 2025, taxpayers who itemize their tax deductions can claim a deduction on their federal tax return up to $10,000 each year for local property taxes paid, according to Rubinstein. âWhen the tax law changed in 2017, this was very controversial, because taxpayers previously had an unlimited deduction. The $10,000 limit is significant for taxpayers in high-tax states like New York and California.â Asher Rubinstein, Partner Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP
One of the biggest benefits of homeownership is tax breaks. If youâre a homeowner, tax credits and deductions could save you thousands of dollars per year. But are there tax credits for buying a house? And what about deductions? To help you come next tax season, here are tax credits and deductions you can get when you buy a house, and additional tax breaks that come with homeownership.
Both tax credits and deductions can help a homeowner save money on their tax bill, but they work differently. âBoth lower oneâs taxes, but a credit applies to the tax owed, while a deduction applies to oneâs income that is subject to tax,â says Asher Rubinstein, partner and tax, asset protection and trusts and estates attorney at Gallet Dreyer & Berkey in New York City. âIn other words, itâs a matter of timing and when the tax discount is applied.â
There are also refundable and nonrefundable tax credits. According to the IRS, if your tax bill is less than the refundable credit, then you get the difference back in your refund.
Credits are typically much more valuable than deductions. âFor example, someone with a $1,000 tax credit in the 20% tax bracket will see their tax bill reduced by $1,000. Someone with a $1,000 tax deduction will only see $200 in tax savings,â explains Eric Presogna, founder and CEO of One-Up Financial and a certified financial planner public accountant.
There are two types of deductions available to all taxpayers: standard deduction and itemized deduction. If you take the standard deduction, you reduce your taxable income by a set amount. For the 2024 tax year, the standard deduction is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for married couples filing jointly. âThere is no need for the taxpayer to keep records of individual tax deductions if the taxpayer takes the standard deduction,â Rubinstein says. Itemized deductions are individual tax deductions that could potentially add up to more than the standard deduction.
According to Presogna, homeowners should only take the standard deduction when they donât have enough itemized deductions to exceed the standard. âWith the SALT deduction (state, local, real estate taxes) currently limited to $10,000, a married couple would need more than $19,200 in mortgage interest, charitable donations and other qualifying deductions in order to warrant itemizing,â Presogna says.
The IRS has specific rules regarding how homebuyers qualify for certain tax credits. There are also credits that are only available to first-time buyers. You generally qualify as a firsttime homebuyer if youâre purchasing your first home. However, you may still qualify if youâve not owned a home for three years prior to the date of purchasing the new home for which the credit is claimed, according to the IRS. That home must be your principal residence.
One federal tax credit available to first-time buyers is through the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) program. This program was designed to help lower-income families afford a home. The MCC program allows buyers to claim a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for a portion of the mortgage interest paid per year, up to $2,000. Eligible individuals must be first-time homebuyers, use the house as their primary residence and meet the programâs income and purchase price requirements.
There may also be tax credits available through your state. These buyer programs vary from state to state. You can research what may be available in your local area or look through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmentâs directory of local homebuying programs.
There are more tax deductions available to homebuyers and homeowners than there are tax credits, but Presogna says it depends on whether you itemize your deductions or take the standard deduction. Regarding homeownership, âIf you have enough deductions to itemize, real estate taxes, home equity loan and mortgage interest are some of the larger deductible costs,â Presogna adds.
Keep in mind that not everything is deductible. According to Rubinstein, most costs associated with homeownership do not qualify for any tax benefits, including cosmetic upgrades, homeowners insurance and your mortgage principal, to name a few.
First-time homebuyer savings account (FHSA). Some states offer tax benefits to first-time homebuyers to open an FHSA. This is a specific type of savings account that helps first-time buyers save up to $15,000 or $30,000 per year for a down payment, closing costs and other expenses related to their home purchase. You can deduct the annual savings from your state-taxable income, but limits vary by state.
Mortgage interest deduction. This is a deduction for interest paid on mortgage debt, but you will need to itemize your deductions to qualify for this tax break. âUnder current law, this applies to loans up to $750,000,â Rubinstein says.
Property tax deduction. Through 2025, taxpayers who itemize their tax deductions can claim a deduction on their federal tax return up to $10,000 each year for local property taxes paid, according to Rubinstein. âWhen the tax law changed in 2017, this was very controversial, because taxpayers previously had an unlimited deduction,â he says. âThe $10,000 limit is significant for taxpayers in high-tax states like New York and California.â
Mortgage points deduction. Per IRS guidelines, mortgage points are fees paid to take out a mortgage. This also includes origination fees or discount points purchased in order to reduce the interest rate.
Home office deduction. âIf youâre a business owner or selfemployed and work from home, you may be entitled to a deduction for the portion of your home used for business,â Presogna says. However, Rubinstein warns that this is the most audited deduction due to the amount of taxpayers who try to claim this deduction. âThe IRS has specific rules to follow. For instance, you canât work from home for an employer. You have to use a dedicated room and you have to use it regularly. And there are square footage limitations,â Rubinstein explains.
Many tax benefits extend beyond the initial purchase of a home. The IRS offers some tax benefits for certain capital improvements, such as renovating your home office, making energy-efficient improvements or making changes due to a medical condition. If you take out a home equity loan to buy, build or improve your home, you could qualify for the home equity loan interest deduction. The IRS would classify the interest you pay on the borrowed funds as home acquisition debt, which may be deductible.
First-time homebuyers could also potentially qualify for a traditional or Roth IRA penalty waiver. If you meet IRS qualifications as a first-time buyer and take out $10,000 or less, you can use those funds toward a down payment without a 10% tax penalty if you close within 120 days. However, the actual withdrawal may still be considered taxable income.
One of the biggest tax breaks for a homeowner is the exclusion of capital gains when they sell their home. Capital gains are the profit from the sale of the home. For married couples, the first $500,000 in capital gains are not subject to tax. For individuals, the first $250,000 in capital gains are not subject to tax. âHowever, the home has to be used as oneâs personal residence for two out of the last five years in order to get this tax break,â Rubinstein says.
Written by Laura Bogart, GoBankingRates. Featuring Asher Rubinstein, Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP.
When we think of love letters, we might imagine grand declarations of passion between partners, or maybe a parentâs expressions of pride and joy in the growth of a beloved child. Rarely do we think of a will and testament, information about trusts, advanced directives or healthcare proxies.
Yet providing this kind of detailed information about how to handle your estate is one of the most loving gestures you could offer your family. In a moving essay, writer Laura Wheatman Hill described the âfinancial love letterâ her father drafted for her family. She talked candidly about the value of knowing exactly what he wants for his assets and within his healthcare directive.
âEven though itâs morbid to think about our dad dying, my sister and I discussed the letter and decided we are very happy that he put in the work to tell us exactly how he wants everything to play out,â Wheatman Hill wrote.
To help you understand the elements that should be in your own financial love letter, GOBankingRates talked to several estate planning experts.
A Proper Will and Revocable Living Trust
The foundational step of any estate plan is a proper will. If you should pass away without a will in place, youâll have died âintestate.â According to Asher Rubinstein, partner with Gallet Dreyer & Berkey LLP, this means that the probate court will oversee your estate and decide who will receive your assets â a distribution that may not align with what you or your family wanted.
However, relying only on a will to share your assets automatically involves the courts and makes your will a public document. On top of the monetary costs and potential delays of dealing with a court, youâre exposing your family members to the prying eyes of anyone who accesses the court file.
âThis, in effect, could be a roadmap to a family member inheriting significant assets. Most people would not want this information to be public,â said Rubinstein.
He explained that in addition to a will, a proper estate plan should include a revocable living trust. âAfter the person passes away, his or her trust has a continuing duration on its own. This trust should include the same inheritance provisions usually contained in the will,â he said. âWhereas the will has to go through probate and becomes a public document, the trust may bypass probate and remain private.â
Trusts also give the trustee immediate access to the assets in the trust, allowing them to share everything with the beneficiaries much more quickly â as opposed to waiting for a probate court to certify a trustee and approve their access.
Power of Attorney
Giving someone your power of attorney is the ultimate sign of trust, since youâre empowering them to manage your financial affairs if youâre unable to do so. Choosing someone you know will honor your wishes and making your wishes clear to them is an essential part of making sure that everything goes smoothly.
Healthcare Proxy
Having to suddenly decide what a loved one would want if they were incapacitated by illness or injury could feel emotionally devastating. This is part of why Wheatman Hillâs father included a clear advanced care directive in his letter.
âIâm not going to have to debate with my sister about whether he wants resuscitation or extended care if he is in a vegetative state or has reached the end stages of a degenerative condition â he told us. He also told me I get to use my best judgment about moving him to a facility near me if he needs care,â she wrote.
Ensuring that you have someone picked out who can fulfill all your wishes for advanced care or healthcare decisions is an essential part of estate planning. As Gregory L. Matalon, a partner with Capell Barnett Matalon & Schoenfeld LLP, explained, a healthcare proxy âallows an individual to determine who will act regarding healthcare matters when that person cannot. It also allows an individual to declare their wishes regarding medical intervention measures.â
Matalon shared that if you donât draft a healthcare proxy and power of attorney, the court may appoint someone else to make these decisions for you and your family.
âThe appointment of a guardian can be a costly process at an emotionally difficult time and may result in the appointment of a stranger to make these decisions, and not a trusted relative or friend,â he said. âAnd, without clear gifting provisions outlined in the power of attorney documents, a principalâs assets may be lost to long-term care expenses or estate taxes.â
Clear Communication and Easy-To-Find Documents
Having a sense of who youâd like to be in charge of your health and your assets, as well as what youâd like to distribute among your beneficiaries, is important. But it doesnât do anyone any good if they donât know where to find, or how to understand, your documents.
For David Johnston, CFP, managing partner at Amwell Ridge Wealth Management, clear communication is the foundation of good estate planning. You should have a method for ensuring that all of your accounts, belongings and interests can be easily identified.
âWithout either a written plan â or a digital portal â outlining where everything is (and whom to call), family members are left to embark on a scavenger hunt with neither a map nor a list of what they are looking for,â he said.
As the year comes to a close, we offer some planning tips to our clients, colleagues and friends of the firm regarding their assets, tax and estate concerns.
Foremost, there are some time-sensitive ways to save taxes that could result in much more money for your family.
What have we learned from this difficult year, and what should we do going forward?
A. Do you have the proper health care documents in place, in case you are ill?
The COVID pandemic has necessitated new terms to living wills and health care proxies, including:
(1) distinguishing between a ventilator to help a patient battle Coronavirus, versus life support, and
(2) authorization to communicate with medical professionals via Zoom, FaceTime, etc.
B. Have you updated your trust(s) and will?
Year-end is a good time to reflect upon your estate wishes, whether they are current and whether your survivors will be able to inherit efficiently and privately. To this end, we offer the following questions to guide you:
C.  If you have received any PPP monies, are you compliant?
D.  If you are a landlord or a tenant, have you looked into renegotiating your lease(s)?
E.  Have you moved recently, or are you working from home?
The pandemic has resulted in many people leaving metropolitan areas and high-tax jurisdictions and no longer commuting to offices. Be prepared for a residency tax audit. High-tax jurisdictions are known to challenge claims that taxpayers have severed ties and are living and working in low-tax jurisdictions.
New York City and New York State are particularly aggressive in auditing the tax returns of people who claim to have moved to a different state. In an audit, it will be up to the taxpayer to prove that he or she no longer has a tax nexus to the former state. Simply buying property in a new state is not enough. There are many factors that are used to establish tax residency. In a 2018 lawsuit, a taxpayer was found to still have a New York residence even though the taxpayer spent more than 183 days at his condo in Florida.
We can assist you in implementing a plan to support your new residency and break from your high tax state. We can also defend you in an audit from the state that is challenging your new residency and seeks to continue to tax you.
Please contact us to discuss any of the above issues.
Our last post discussed end-of-year planning to lock-in estate tax savings, and get more to your family, before the tax law changes.
Here are some other strategies to consider now before taxes could go up in 2021:
Consider a Charitable Remainder Trust. Contributing appreciated assets, such as stock, family businesses and real estate to a Charitable Remainder Trust is a good way to avoid capital gains tax. The Charitable Remainder Trust is tax-exempt. It may sell assets free of tax and invest the proceeds tax-free. You can enjoy distributions from the trust at very low tax-favored rates, and at the end of the trust term, the remainder will go to a qualified charity. You will receive a tax deduction equal to the present value of the remainder that will be left to charity. The benefits: tax free growth of trust assets, a low-tax income stream for you and your beneficiaries, philanthropy of your choice, a charitable deduction and significant capital gains tax minimization. Benefits can be further enhanced by creating a tax-exempt family foundation to serve as the qualified charity receiving the remainder from the charitable trust.
In addition to lowering estate taxes and getting more to your heirs and less to the IRS, proper tax and estate planning also provides the following benefits:
Two representatives from a prominent Delaware trust company visited us in New York in order to solicit our clientsâ trust business. They spoke at length of the merits of Delaware as a trust jurisdiction. They noted how much money has poured into Delaware because of its favorable corporation and trust laws. They suggested that Delaware legislators and judges will continue to develop Delaware law to be favorable to trusts, in order to keep trust money and attract new trust money to Delaware.
They also noted how foreign trusts in offshore jurisdictions are obligated to report trust details to the IRS under FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). Their implication is that Delaware trusts are better or more âsecretâ than offshore trusts.
However, there is one glaring hole in the concept of a Delaware asset protection trust, which is that a Delaware trustee is required to uphold a judgment from a court outside Delaware, which means that the assets in the Delaware APT would be turned over to a foreign judgment creditor. This completely vitiates the rationale behind sending assets to a Delaware trust for asset protection purposes. This potential flaw in a Delaware APT has never been tested in a Delaware court. As we tell our clients, you may be the test case, and few if any clients want to be a test case in court.
The conclusion is that Delaware asset protection trusts are risky for asset protection goals. For other goals – – generational planning, a favorable litigation climate, sophisticated courts, experienced trustees – – Delaware might be one of the premier domestic jurisdictions for trust planning. However, we have serious issues with Delaware for asset protection planning. We have the same issue with other domestic asset protection trust states.
And yes, offshore trusts report to the IRS. As we have long counseled, there is no hiding money offshore from the IRS. Domestic trusts, including in Delaware, report to the IRS also. However, for asset protection purposes, foreign trusts offer compelling and proven advantages. Domestic trusts remain vulnerable to domestic challenges, including U.S. court judgments.
Most people believe that, when they die, the way to pass their assets to their beneficiaries is via a will. That is not wrong. But there are downsides to a will. And there is a better way: via a trust.
In order for assets to pass on to your heirs via a will, the will has to be filed in court in a process called âprobateâ. This means that your will is submitted to a court of law. That makes your will a public document. Anyone can read your will, see what assets you owned, make a claim to your assets, and challenge the validity of your will in court. Since the will names your heirs, and the assets to be dispersed to your heirs, this public information now also provides a roadmap to your heirs and their new wealth. If you leave behind property in multiple states, there may be multiple probate court proceedings.
Moreover, in order to maneuver through this probate court process, and whether or not there is a will contest or outside claims to assets, your heirs will need to hire a lawyer. The court will make sure that your assets are distributed the way you directed in your will. And courts work very slowly, which means that those assets may not pass on to your heirs for another year or two, or much longer if there is a court issue, will contest or other probate problem. In short, if you rely on a will to distribute your assets, you automatically involve the state, which has monetary costs, lack of privacy and delays.
A better mechanism for passing your assets to your heirs is via a trust. A trust is an entity created to manage assets. The trust is controlled by a trustee, who manages the property within the trust. Subject to the terms of the trust, a trustee can invest, sell, buy, lease, mortgage, lend, collateralize, etc., whatever has been placed in the trust, e.g., cash, securities, shares of stock or LLC interests, art, real estate, patents, trademarks, anything of value. If you establish a trust, and contribute assets to this trust, you may be the trustee over this trust and thus continue to control the assets in the trust while you are alive. You would also chose a successor trustee. Because the trust continues to exist after your death, the role of the successor trustee is to control the trust after you die. The successor trustee, who could be your surviving spouse, relative or trusted friend, would be obligated to follow the instructions you set forth in the trust document, called a trust deed of settlement. This document will also set forth who inherits your assets upon your death, much like a will directs where your assets are to be distributed at your death. The people who inherit your assets are called âbeneficiariesâ. The trustee has a fiduciary obligation to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries.
However, whereas a will has to go through the probate court process, a trust does not. At your death, the successor trustee (who youâve appointed when you created the trust), follows the directives of the trust (which youâve set forth when you created the trust), including distribution of trust assets to the beneficiaries who youâve named when you created the trust. The beneficiaries can be your children, other family members, your alma mater, charities, etc. Distributing your assets under the terms youâve set forth could be accomplished by a will through the public probate process, or instead, the very same terms could be satisfied by a trust, privately, without involving the state, without a probate court, without lawyers, and with less of an opportunity for others to challenge the validity of the inheritance terms that youâve set.
Moreover, because a trust avoids probate and the delays of probate, the successor trustee can step in immediately and administer the trust assets. The successor trustee can communicate with banks and brokerage firms without a need for court appointment, and can begin to settle the estate and make distributions much faster than if a probate court were involved. In addition, because banks, brokerage firms and other custodians will freeze an individual account at death, thus complicating the account and delaying distributions and payments, a trust account may continue seamlessly with the successor trustee. Finally, illiquid assets (e.g., real estate, private investments, private equity, limited partnership interests) that may be complicated by the probate process and require re-titling of the assets after death, can instead continue smoothly in the name of the trust.
The trust is a ârevocableâ trust, meaning that you have the ability to revoke, or cancel it. You also have the ability to modify it. For instance, you can change your beneficiaries or change the trustee. Because the trust is revocable, the IRS doesnât consider it to be an independent taxpayer and the trust will not get its own taxpayer ID number. However, when you die, the trust becomes irrevocable. At that point, the successor trustee (who youâve already chosen), steps in and is obligated to follow the terms of the trust that youâve set forth.
It is more difficult to contest the terms of a trust than the terms of a will. This is because whereas the will is admitted to a probate court for all to see, nowhere is the trust publicly recorded. A probate court automatically provides a venue and a mechanism for challenging a will. Yet, trusts are not public documents and trusts avoid the probate process.
This allows you a greater opportunity to control the terms of distribution, knowing that it will be more difficult for others to challenge those terms. For instance, you might direct the successor trustee to pursue a certain investment at the exclusion of another. You might also, for example, set forth pre-conditions for inheritance, such as completing college or graduate school. If you leave behind a child who is a minor, you can create a sub-trust for that minor, funded with life insurance, IRA proceeds or other accounts payable on your death, and set the terms of that sub-trust, such as delayed distributions at certain ages or periodic support payments over the life of a beneficiary.
An additional important benefit to a trust is that the assets held in trust may be protected from lawsuits, including divorces, and the claims of creditors. On the other hand, after distribution from a will to a beneficiary, the inheritance is vulnerable to creditors of the beneficiary, including a spouse.
Your will still does have a role in estate planning, even though distribution of your assets is controlled by a trust. In your will, you set forth your personal representative, who is the person you empower to take care of your funeral arrangements, final personal debts and your last tax return. This person can be the same as your successor trustee. If you have children who are minors, the will is also the document to name their guardians in the event both parents pass away before the children reach adulthood. Finally, the will also should include a provision that any property that you did not address in your trust should now âpour overâ into the trust and be subject to the terms of your trust.
Another benefit to a trust is that, if you are married, it preserves both spousesâ exemptions from the estate tax. Each person currently is allowed an exemption from federal estate tax for the first $5.45 million worth of assets. In other words, if oneâs estate is valued at less than $5.45 million, there is no federal estate tax. (State estate tax may apply, however, and there is great disparity among exemptions and estate tax rates across all the states.) That exemption of $5.45 million is now âportableâ, meaning that if one spouse did not use up the exemption at death, the unused amount can be transferred to the second spouse and added on to the exemption of that second spouse. The net effect is a combined federal exemption of $10.9 million for the couple. On the state level, however, there may not be portability and the exemptions may be much smaller in your state. Through the use of a revocable family trust, both spouseâs exemptions on the state level could be preserved. Notably, portability cannot be accomplished via a will.
Thus, while a will has traditionally been thought of as the way to pass on oneâs assets at death, wills have significant drawbacks including the probate court process, delays and lack of privacy. A trust is a better way to accomplish the same inheritance planning, privately, more efficiently, without involving courts or lawyers, with greater control over inheritance terms, and with lower estate taxes.
For information about your estate planning needs, contact Rubinstein & Rubinstein today.
In early 2013, Congress clarified the estate tax landscape and made permanent certain provisions of estate tax law, such as the exemption from estate tax for the first $5.45 million of oneâs estate, indexed annually for inflation. There has been no such clarity on the state levels, which remain a patchwork of different estate tax laws.
On the federal level, in addition to the exemption of $5.45 million each year indexed for inflation, the 40% estate tax rate is, for now, standard. In addition, portability between spouses of an unused exemption is also now allowed. Congress can change these laws in the future, as it has in the past. In addition, in this election year, estate tax rates and exemptions are campaign topics and are subject to revision by a new administration. However, at least for now, the federal estate tax regime is clear and as a result, we as tax practitioners have a better ability to plan for clients when the law is clear.
However, estate taxes on the state level are much more variable. In New Jersey, the threshold for estate tax is only $675,000, the lowest in the U.S., and at a huge variance from the $5.45 million federal exemption. The threshold in Connecticut is $2 million, cut from $3.5 million in 2011. The threshold in New York is currently $3.125 million, will rise to $4.18 million on April 1, 2016 and to $5.25 million in 2017. Ultimately, the NYS exemption will be at parity with the federal exemption amount in 2019. In a significant quirk, a New York tax law anomaly known as âthe cliffâ sets the estate threshold to zero (i.e., no exemption from estate tax at all) if oneâs estate is valued at $3,281,250 or more. In other words, in New York, there is no estate tax for estates lower than $3.125 million and complete estate tax on the entirety of the estate, with no threshold and no exemption, for any New York estate valued in excess of $3,281,120.
Thus, depending on the value of oneâs estate, and oneâs residence, oneâs estate may owe considerable state estate tax even if it is exempt from federal estate tax.
Some states have no estate tax and no income tax. For this and other reasons (sunshine?) such states, which include Florida and Nevada, attract migration from high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
There are various strategies that one may utilize to lower oneâs taxable estate on both federal and state levels. Some of the strategies proven to reduce estate taxes are:
GRAT â If you contribute assets into a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, you could receive a regular payment akin to an annuity over many years, and then when the trust term ends, the appreciated assets pass to your heirs, are not considered part of your estate and will not be subject to estate taxes.
QPRT â If you contribute your personal residence into a Qualified Personal Residence Trust, you may still live in the residence for a term of years, and when the trust term ends, the home is removed from your estate while passing to your heirs and will not be subject to estate taxes.
FLP â After contributing your assets into a Family Limited Partnership in return for general and limited partnership interests, you may then, over time, gift your limited partnership interests to your heirs while retaining the general partnership interest (thereby continuing to control the FLP), and thus remove the value of the limited partnership interests from your estate. FLPs also provide the additional bonus of excellent asset protection.
CRUT â By contributing appreciated assets to a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, you are entitled to a charitable deduction, regular payments from the trust back to you during the trust term, and at the end of the term the assets pass to the charity, are not subject to income tax and are removed from your estate.
ILIT – If you own or control life insurance policies, the IRS deems their death benefit to be in your estate and subject to estate tax, even though you will never receive the death benefit during your life. If you contribute these life insurance policies to an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, you may remove the insurance policies from your estate. Your family members may receive the death benefit from the trust, free of any estate tax.
Dynasty Trust – Such a trust allows the preservation of assets for oneâs immediate and remote descendants, along with offering asset protection from creditors, as well as delay of the estate tax bite for many generations. The trust can distribute income to beneficiaries, but principal is preserved, asset-protected and grows tax-free.
These strategies are not only for the mega-wealthy. We have successfully utilized these strategies for clients of means at various levels who are concerned with leaving as much of their hard-earned assets for their heirs with as little as possible going to the IRS and state tax authorities. These are equally attainable goals with a $5 million estate as they are at $50 million.
Moreover, these strategies are affordable, especially considering the amount of tax savings they offer.
Of course, if you want to move to Florida or Nevada, go for it. But if youâre considering a move for estate tax reasons, first consider these various strategies to lower your estate tax liability without having to relocate.